Minnesota leaders set special session for Monday to finish budget; highlight bonding, data‑center package, health coverage and transportation changes

Legislative leaders said a special session of the Minnesota Legislature will begin at 10 a.m. Monday to finalize a budget agreement that leaders negotiated with the governor and caucus leaders. The leaders said the package will include a roughly $700 million bonding bill, a data‑center tax and regulation package, a standalone bill to end state health coverage for undocumented adults age 18 and older, and transportation‑funding changes that reduce counties’ share of the metro sales tax from the 2023 arrangement.

The announcement came during a leadership press conference in which the speakers said several draft bills were still being completed and posted. Leaders said the public will have an opportunity to view bill language and join public hearings before the bills are taken up on the floor, and that some elements of the agreement were finalized late the previous night.

Why it matters: the package ties multiple high‑profile policy changes to the budget process. Leaders said the agreement balances priorities across parties while addressing an anticipated general‑fund shortfall in later fiscal years; the measures would change tax treatment for data centers, alter regional transportation revenue sharing, and remove coverage for a group of uninsured adults in state programs unless the bills are revised before enactment.

Data‑center package Leaders said the data‑center measure negotiated as part of the agreement would change the current tax exemptions for data centers. Under existing law, new data centers receive exemptions for software, hardware and electricity for…